Clothes-pin.



H. F. GILBERT.

v morass PIN.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 28. I916- 1,268;,70 v Patented June 4,1918.

INVENTDR h flkmyi zleri.

V; |TN(E SSES eiN-S (IL- ATTORNEY HENRY r. GILBERT, or DELHI, NEW YORK.

CLOTHES-PIN.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June a, 1W8.

Application filed July 28, 1916. Serial No. 111,913.

To all whom it may concern .1

Be it known that I, HENRY F. GILBERT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Delhi, in the county of Delaware and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Clothes-Pins, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to clothes pins, and has for its primary object to provide a pin which shall be of simple and inexpensive construction, which is constructed in such manner as to be readily applicable to clothes lines of various types and diameters and to securely engage therewith, which shall possess an efficient clamping means for supporting fabrics in such manner as will preclude the possibility of engagement of the latter with the line, and which will prove everlasting in use.

A further object of the invention is to provide a clothes pin of the type above referred to to which cloth may be secured without danger of injury to the texture thereof, which operates to more firmly bind upon the clothesline when heavy fabrics are attached thereto, and which is designed to overcome the objections of having clothes freeze to their retaining pins and line in cold weather.

With these objects in view, together with others which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the novel formation, combination and arrangement of parts, all as will be described more fully hereinafter, illustrated in the drawings, and particularly pointed out in the claim.

The invention will be best understood by reference to the accompanying drawing, wherein .Figure 1 is a sectional view taken through a clothes line and illustrating in side elevation the application of a pin constructed and arranged in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 is a similar view and illustrating resiliency for the jaw member to be hereinafter detailed.

The wire strand is bent upon itself inwardly a short distance from one end to provide a pair of spaced straight portions 6 forming between them a straight elongated loop. The wire is bent upon itself and twisted at the upper end of the loop and curved outwardly and in advance thereof to provide a resilient hook 7 to facilitate securing the pin to a line. The opposite or longer extremity of the wire is curved rearwardly as-at 8 and is bent forwardly and extended through the loop portion 6 to provide a clamping jaw 9. The extremity of the wire constituting the jaw is bent forwardly as at 10 to provide a smooth surface at the jaw end to prevent tearing of the cloth clamped between the jaw and the adjacent portions of the loop member 6. As shown in the various figures of the drawings, the jaw 9 is prevented against becom mg disengaged from the loop by engagement of the extremity thereof with the base portion of the loop.

In operation, the curved portion 8 is held within the hand and is compressed, whereupon the jaw member 9 moves forwardly and out of engagement with the loop portion 6 of the pin. The cloth may then be engaged between the separated loop and jaw portions and releasing the curved portion 8 permits of the jaw assuming normal posi tion, whereupon the fabric will be clamped firmly between the loop and jaw member. The pin may then be suspended from the line by engaging the hook 7 over the same. Blowing or straining of the fabric suspended from the pin will tend to bind the hook portion firmly upon the line, and disengaging the pin from the line is thus prevented. It is thus apparent that the cloth held by the pin is maintained out of engagement with the line, and danger of freezing of the fabric thereto in cold weather is obviated.

While the above is a description of the preferred embodiment of the invention it is apparent that various changes in the minor details of construction and arrangement of parts may be resorted to if desired without departing from the spirit of the invention or exceeding the scope of the claim.

What is claimed is:

A clothes pin formed of a single strand of wire bent upon itself to provide an elongated loop forming one leg of the pin, the wire being twisted upon itself at the upper end of the first leg, one end of the wire being curved and away from and then brought back toward and extended through the first mentioned leg and directed downwardly to form the first leg of the pin, and cooperated with the first leg in clamping an article suspended from said pin, the opposite end of the wire being curved away from the twisted portion of the wire in a direction Copies of this patent may be obtained for opposite to that of the first mentioned end of the wire for the purpose of forming a clamping arm to cooperate with the twisted portion of the wire in securing the pin upon the clothes line.

In testimony whereof I ailix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HENRY F. GILBERT.

Witnesses ALIORD L. AUSTIN, HENRY S. GRAHAM.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. G." 

